Vacuum tank



March 2 1926. 1,577,844,

C.S.NELSON VACUUM TANK Filed May 23, 1925 Guam Patented Mar. 23, 1926.

UNITED STATES tartan FATE-N1 YQFHQHCE.

GHARLES s. NELSQN, OF GOCOLALLA, inane.

vacuum TANK.

Application filed May 23, 1925. Serial No. 32,338-

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES S. NELSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cocolalla, in Bonner County and State of Idaho, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Vacuum Tanks, of which the following is a specification.

My present invention relates to improve ments in vacuum tanks'of the float controlled and maintained oil level type for use in connection with liquid fuel feeding systems of internal combustion engines as used on automotive vehicles as well as for illuminating and heating devices and similar appliances using liquid fuel feeding sys terms.

By the utilization of my invention means are provided in combination with float controlled mechanism for operating the inlet and vent valves of the vacuum tankto insure a snap or quick action of the valves in opening and closing for the purpose of automatically regulating the feed of the gasoline from the supply tank to the vacuum tank. The operating parts in the interior of the vacuum tank are compactly arranged to insure asmoothness and uniformity of operation and the invention consists in certain novel combinations of parts as will hereinafter he more fully pointed out and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated one complete example of the physical embodiment of my invention wherein the parts are combined and arranged according to the best mode I have thus far devised for the practical application of the principles of my invention.

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of the vacuum and feed tank of a fuel feeding system embodying my invention.

Figure 2 is a top plan view on areduced scale of the vacuum tank.

Figure 3 is a detail view of the valve operating mechanism as at line 33 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a view at line 4- i of Figure 1 looking upwardly at the underside of the vacuum tank top and showing the inlet and vent valve operating mechanism.

In carrying out my invention I preferably arrange the vacuum tank land feed tank 2 in vertical alinement with a transverse partition 3 between them forming the bottom of the vacuum tank and the top of the feed tank. The tanks made up of suit able material such as glass or metal and are preferably cylindrical in shape with a flat circular disk 1 forming the top of the vacuum tank and a similar disk 5 forming the bottom of the feed tank. These disks or heads are connected by bolts as 6 passed through perforated lugs in the heads and nuts 7 on the bolts are used to securely clamp the two cylinders, their heads, and the partition together. The heads and partition are provided with gaskets and other devices as usual to insure a tight joint and workmanlike finish for the apparatus.

The gas inlet pipe 8 extends from the main supply tank not shown to the vacuum tank, and the suction pipe 9 from the engine is secured in the top-4 of the vacuum tank for the purpose of creating a partial vacuum in the tank to insure flow of gasoline to the vacuum tank from the supply tank, and a vent pipe 10 is introduced to the top 4 of the vacuum tank adjacent to the inlet pipe 8. A priming plug 11 is secured in the top 1 and provided with a cap 12, the former to be used when required for introducing a priming supply to the vacuum feed tank and the usual outlet pipe 13 is provided at the bottom of the feed tank 2 to permit flow of gasoline to the carburetor, not shown. The supply of gasoline to the vacuum tank is automatically controlled by means of valves in connection with the inlet pipe 8 and vent tube or pipe 10, and for this purpose the inlet pipe 8 is provided with a valve nipple 14: secured in the top 4 of the tank and fashioned with a hollow head 15 within the tank forthe ball valve 16 which controls I the admission of gasoline through the hollow'head to the tank. This ball valve is provided with a specially constructed stem 17 in the form of a flat metal plate depending from the ball valve and provided with a vertical central slot 18. At the edges of the plate or flat stem are arranged apair of opposed grooved guide plates 19 and 20 having attaching flanges 21 by means of which they are secured at the underside of the top 4 of the vacuum tank. These fixed guide plates are spaced apart at the edges of the valve stem to retain it in proper position and. to guide the stem in its vertical movement as the ball valve is intermittently opened and closed,- preferably with. a action. v

To stabilize the triei ement of the valve stem a friction device in the nature of a friction oi retarding ball 22 is provided that is held in frictional contact with an edge of the stem by means of a spring 23 carried in a casing 2st of the guide plate 20, and the open end of this casing is closed by a screw plug 25 by means of whichthe tension of the spring on the ball may be adjusted. It will be apparent that the spring and ball exert a resilient pressure on the stem to afford a retarding effect for the snap action of the stem and valve to overcome any tendency to jerk or jump on the part of the valve and stem, and yet permit the desired snap action.

The venting device of the vacuum tank is also provided with a similar valve feature wherein the nipple 26 of the vent tube is provided with a hollow head 27 within the vacuum tank for the ball valve 28. The ball valve is fashioned with a slotted stem 29 thatis guided in the fixed spaced groovedv guide plates 30, and a friction devicefer retarding the movement of the valve stem in its snap action is indicated at 3O which fricrtion device is the same as that employed for the inlet valve stem just described.

In Figure 1 the inlet valve is shown in open position and the vent-valve is shown closed, and it will be understood that these valves are'automatically and simultaneously operated to reverse position by the intermittent action of the float controlled actuating mechanism for these operating parts. The two slotted valve stems arearr-anged to depend in parallel positions from the under side of the vacuum tank top or closure t, and between these two stems a three-arm valve operating lever is positioned. This lever has an arm 31 that engages and is movable in the slotted stem 17 of the inlet valve, and analined arm 32 that is movable in the slotted valve stem of the vent valve, the arrangement being such that both lever arms are permitted to have an initial movement in the stems before operatively engaging the respective stems for opening or closing the valves. The operating lever is pivoted at 33 on the bracketBa located between the two valves and attached at the underside of the vacuum tanktop 4;, and the operating lever which is of T-shape has a spring arm 35 provided at its free end with a transversely extending spring bar 36.

Duplicate springs 37 and 38, one at each side of the valve lever, are connected to the cross bar 36 and anchored to lugs 39 on the bracket 34:, and it will be apparent that these two springs for snapping the operating levers of the valves will always hold the valves in open or closed positions. The lever arms for the valves it will be noted are permitted to have an initial movement in the slotted stems before they operatively contact with the stems, but as soon as this operative connection is made between the lever arms and the valve st ms the swinging movement of the lever carries the free end of the spring arm 35 into alinement ith the pivot 33 and anchor 39 and then out of this alinement the tension of the springs will exert a quick action on the lever arms to move the valve stems to open or close the valves as the case may be, and then hold the valves in that position, as indicated in Figure 1.

To assist in snapping over the over-balanced springs 37 and 38 a flat spring isattached to the bracket 34 and its two arms A and Bextend outwardly from the bracket and engage in apertures in the respective valve stems. Thus the valves and their stems are given a snapping or quick action, but an excessive jerking motion is prevented by the friction or retarding devices,as the ball 22 that frictionally engages the inlet valve stem, heretofore described.

The valve operating mechanism is actuated from the float 40 in the vacuum chamber which has a link 41 pivoted at 42 to the.

end of the valve lever arm 31, and it will be apparent that as the floatrises and falls withthe level of oil'in the vacuum tank the two valves are automatically controlled to insure an adequate flow and supply of gasoline to the vacuum tank.

The gasoline flows from the vacuum tank to the feed tank beneath it through a double U-shaped trap or pipe d3 which has an outlet M in the feed tank 2. Thisoutlet is" controlled by the ball valve 45 which has a stem 4L6 connected to the float 47, and a tubular member d8 of the fixed frame L9 on the pipe 43 guides the movement of the stem. The flow of gasoline from the feed tank through the outlet or feed pipe 13 to the carbureter is gravity actuated as usual.

Having thus fully described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. The combination in a vacuum feed tank having an inlet opening and a vent opening and oppositely moving valves for said openings, of slotted stems on said valves, a single lever having a pair of arms disposed in said slotted stems, means for exerting a snap action on said lever, and float controlled means for actuating said lever.

2. The combination in a vacuum feed tank having an inlet opening and a vent opening and oppositely moving valves for said openings, of slotted stems on said valves and a pair of'spaced grooved guide plates for said stems, a single lever having a pair of arms disposed in said slotted stems, snap springs connected to said lever, and float controlled means for actuating said lever.

3. The combination in a vacuum feed tank having inlet and vent openings and oppositely moving valves for said openings,

of stems on said valves, means for retarding the movement of said stems, a single lever operatively engaging said stems With an initial relative movement, means for exerting a snap action on said lever, and float controlled means for actuating said lever.

4. The combination in a vacuum feed tank having inlet and vent openings and oppositely moving valves for said openings, of stems on said valves, a pair of spaced guide plates for each stem, a spring pressed friction device for each stem carried by a guide plate, a single lever having arms operatively engaging said stems With an initial relative movement, means for exerting a snap action on said lever, and float controlled means for actuating said lever.

5. The combination With a hollow valvehead and a valve therein of a slotted stem on said valve and a pair of spaced grooved guide plates for said stem, a lever operatively engaging said slotted stem with an initial relative movement, a snap spring connected to said lever, and float controlled means for actuating said lever.

In testimony whereof I afliX my signature.

' CHARLES S. NELSON. 

